Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
territorial planning, risk management, information, participative democracy and ed-
ucation. The impacts include water availability, equity, sustainability, negotiation,
prevention, peace, capacity building, information, awareness raising and partici-
pation. In this context, the recent EU Water Framework Directive is an essential
guiding principle for integrated water resources management at a European level
based on the ecological quality concept and on adaptive approaches with strong
stakeholder participation.
5.3
Vulnerability of water resources to climate change
Snow-fed mountain regions around the Mediterranean are particularly vulnerable
to impacts of climate change due to the combination of intensive utilization of their
natural resources, their distribution around the rapidly warming Mediterranean Sea
at the northern limit of the Sahara (HYMEX, 2007) and their natural tendency for
droughts (Figure 5.7). Glacier-influenced regimes are restricted nowadays to the
Alps and one remaining glacier in the Apennines. Globally, the Mediterranean con-
centrates the largest number of mountain regions with a high water-contributing
potential to the neighbouring dry lowlands (Viviroli
et al.,
2007). Mountain water
supply is crucial especially in arid and semi-arid regions where vulnerability to sea-
sonal and regional water shortage is high. However, since Viviroli's approach was
developed on a global scale, the scale is still very coarse and requires a higher reso-
lution tuned to the basin scale in order to assign values for individual Mediterranean
mountain chains. Furthermore, climate change impact studies in mountainous
areas only concentrate on aspects such as snowline altitude, percentage catchment
covered by perennial snow, snow depth and snow seasonality. The Mediterranean
Alps, such as the Monte Rosa, have a significant influence on irrigation, mainly for
rice in the Piedmont region, and glacier retreat as well as damming of rivers for
hydropower causes concern for downstream water availability (Alp-Water-Scarce,
2008-2010).
Climate change reviews for mountain regions show that the most significant
changes are expected to occur in mountains under the influence of continental and
Mediterranean climates (Beniston, 2003). The Mediterranean region is particularly
vulnerable to climate change impacts, according to a report by the European En-
vironment Agency (2005, 2009). The most sensitive regions in terms of hydrology
include the Mediterranean, Alps, and central and eastern Europe (Watson
et al.,
1997). In terms of vulnerability and potential impacts on mountains, it is expected
that run-off will decrease by 15% in southern Europe, droughts will increase, snow
and ice will decrease and water demand will increase, especially in summer. Snow
accumulation in most Mediterranean mountain regions is rapid and discontinuous,
therefore a continuous snow mantle as experienced in the more humid Alps is often
not present (Schulz and de Jong, 2005). Since snow ablation is already highly sen-
sitive to physical factors, any temperature changes associated with climate change
will cause even more rapid changes in snow cover distribution.
